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 Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:51 pm
Reference Picture
Hopping over a gnarled tree branch that lay on the jungle floor, the little hyena pup skittered to a stop. Above him a large canopy of foliage stretched across the sky, allowing only streams of sunlight to filter through. Zin raised his head to sniff the moisture ladened air; he was not used to the humidity, which might have explained why he was having trouble picking up any scents. That, or there was no scents to be picked up. But lets not be silly, there were always scents.
The jungle was not were one would usually find a hyena, and Zin was no exception. He did not know how he had ended up in the jungle, for with no objectives in mind that morning, Zin had wandered and wandered, only dimly aware of the increasing foliage around him. He looked around at the unfamiliar terrain and mumbled something incomprehensible. Well what do we have here? A lost hyena pup in the jungle?
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 1:13 pm
 The trees rustled as the white form made his way through the jungle, paws moving along the floor of green with ease. Eyes as green as the trees around him looked ahead brightly, a proud smile on his maw at the beautiful pink flower he held in his jaws.
He had been to the river that morning hunting his favorite prey. With his belly full of his favorite fish, he had set off for his favorite tree, finding the flower on the way. It reminded him of Karama, he bet she'd think it was pretty, so he had picked and trotted off intending to give it to the dark leopardess.
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 1:32 pm
Zin would have been happy waiting around for someone to find him, but heck, who was he kidding. No one would come even if he waited for a million years, and he knew that. Zin traveled alone, and that was just fine with the hyena pup, for he enjoyed tramping around alone... most of the time anyways. Reasoning that it was no help staying stationary, he marched on. Really, he was in no hurry to go anywhere, but the feeling of being lost was never too pleasant, even for an adventurous soul like Zin.
Sweet scents permeated the air, and the hyena pup found this pleasant enough. In fact, he would even go as far as calling it mesmerizing. It was the humidity that he found uncomfortable, swirling around him and clinging to his coat. The jungle was very different from the graveyard and the plains, two locations Zin had frequently visited and familiarized himself with.
Just as he was losing himself in thoughts, a rustle of the leaves nearby alerted Zin to the presence of another. A flash of white, a spark of pink, and a curious light entered Zin's eyes. He trambled toward it without thinking too much, making a considerable amount of noise on the way.
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 1:56 pm
The leopard froze in his tracks, ears flicking at the sound of movement through the jungle, mind racing at what it could possibly be. He knew from the sound that it wasn't a snake, his worst fear, but nonetheless he was wary, ready to spring for the nearest tree. It may not have been a snake, but it could be something like a lion...and Karama had told him those were bad.
He darted toward a tree, his posture lowered in a coil like a spring ready to lunge, green eyes searching for the source of moment. He caught a hint of black, a fluffy tail. But it wasn't big or as fluffy as a lion...and it didn't move like a cat. Then what was it? The small leopard tilted his head curiously for a moment his sense of caution overtaken by his wondering.
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 2:18 pm
Muffled footsteps rang out as Zin trampled along the moist ground. He was clumsy, and quite loud even by his own standards: stalking was definitely going to be hard in the jungle. Especially so as Zin tried to keep up with his target and at the same time worked on not runing into any of the protruding branches that periodically flashed in front of him. Keeping his head low and paws on the ground, Zin tried to focus on the blur of white that was darting in and out of his vision. It was a good thing the white leopard stood out in all the greenness, or Zin would have lost him a long time ago.
Dodging around a tree, Zin emerged in a small clearing just in time to see his target about to spring for a tree. "Waaaaait!" He hollared out in a panic, again lacking the careful considerations that comes with age. Definitely not the best move, considering the ruckus it cause as nearby birds fluttered out of trees in a panic. He was much bigger than Zin would have imagined, with a long, graceful tail. Definitely not my kind, A small voice at the back of his head said.
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:19 pm
As the dark creature burst into the clearing, voice piercing the leopard's ears, Keone's sense of of curiosity left him and he sprang into the tree, scurring onto one of the branches with the flower still held in his jaws.
From the safty of the tree, the leopard looked down, green eyes searching the smaller creature below. it had a fluffy tail, and a mane along it's neck, but it wasn't like a lion's mane. And whatever it was, that did not look like a cat, was it a dog? Keone hadn't seen many dogs, just the occational maned wolf or wild dog that passed through, though he had never seen any of them up close.
"Why are you chasing me?"
The leopard's tail flicked nervously, his ears back, he was ready to climb higher in an instant should he have to.
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:42 pm
Zin's jaw dropped as he watched the white creature take off into the tree. He had never seen anything so big spring up into a tree before, let alone so gracefully. Zin glanced up at the stranger in the tree, squinting against the sunlight; things just weren't adding up in the hyena's mind right now.
The little hyena pup skittered to the trunk of the tree, and circled around it curiously. He hesitated a moment, wondering whether if the creature was going to pounce on top of him from above; it wasn't a pleasant thought. Zin, still doubtful about the leopard's seemingly magical manuver, peered skeptically at the tree. If he can do it... maybe I can too. Always a believer in possibility, Zin gingerly placed both of his front paws upon the trunk of the tree. The rough bark scraped uncomfortably against the hypena pup's soft paws, and after several awkard hops on his hind legs, decided that climbing trees wasn't for him.
"I wasn't chasing you," Zin replied with the denial, still peering up into the tree. "Actually, I don't know why I was chasing you," he said again after a moment with a bob of his head, "And I was only chasing you because you ran."
"How did you get up there, anyways?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:59 pm
They hyena's actions were unnerving, and the small leopard, though highly curious at times, had always been rather skiddish. As such he quickly lept to the next highest branch in an attempt to escape what he thought was trying to attack him. His tail flicked about, his ears flat against his head, his posture stuck in that mode of indecision between fight and flight.
"You stay down there! What do you want?"
His voice was paniced and uncertain, the flower he had held before falling from his jaws to land on the jungle floor. He looked down, whining silently, he'd lost Karama's flower. He guessed he could pick another, but that had been the prettiest one there...like Karama.
"I can climb, and you...you just stay down there!"
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:23 pm
Zin backed away from the tree, tilted his head, and proceeded to contemplate his next course of action. The stranger had leapt again, onto a higher branch this time. In the back of his head, Zin knew he should not advance further without serious consideration; If he falls from there, he'll seriously be a mash of meat and bones... and it will be my fault. He prayed that the stranger would stay still and not make any sudden movements. Sure, the little hyena pup was curious, but no, not to the point of injuring another to satisfy his curiosity.
The leopard was certainly right: he was staying down here. Even if he wanted to, there was no possible way he was going to get up into that tree. Zin sighed, and wondered whether if he should leave. The stranger's warning had had a tone of desperation, and even at his young age, Zin knew that desparate creatures were capable of anything. No, no, best that he left before either of them got hurt. But he did not go, or rather a part of him would not let him go.
Just as the hyena paced in indecision, a speckle of pink fluttered down from the stranger onto the ground. Zin skittered over, and recognized it as a flower, a very pretty one at that. He circled it, sniffed it, and pawed at it carefully. What was he doing with this? Zin wondered.
"Well," the little hyena parked himself next to the flower and looked up expectantly at the leopard, "arn't you going to come down and get it?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:53 pm
Keone looked down as he paced on his branch. He wanted to go down and get the flower, he was certain that Karama would like it and the thought of not being able to give it to her upset it. But at the same time he didn't know what the dark creature was, he had never seen a hyena before and had no idea what it was or how it would act or if it would try to eat him.
"You're not going to try to eat me?"
His green eyes scanned the creature suspiciously. What if this was simply a trick to get him onto the ground and it intended to attack him the momment he left the tree?
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 5:16 pm
"Of course not!" Zin replied indignantly, "You wouldn't fit inside me anyways." A little grin appeared on the hyena's face as he pictured himself swallowing the rather large stranger. What a strange creature, He mused to himself, quite nervous for someone his size too... "Actually, there'd be more of a chance of you eati-" Zin stopped midsentence; better not give him any ideas, he reasoned.
"Oh will you just look at me!" He was beginning to get impatient. He held up his paws and opened his jaw for the stranger to inspect. "See, not sharp at all" The hyena pup nodded assuringly. He even scooted his bottom away from the flower, an act of peace in a way, to show the leopard that it wasn't a trap. Though he carefully placed himself to one side, far enough to assure the creature in the tree, yet also close enough to scramble into his path if he tried to climb back into the tree agin. Eyeing the leopard for his next move, Zin waited.
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 6:47 pm
The leopard paced about on his tree branch, tail flicking, debating what to do. The creature did look smaller than him, too small to eat him. But what if he wasn't alone, and snakes looked like they had little mouths too, but they were really really big. His ears flicked, sniffing the air, it seemed like this one was alone...maybe it would be okay for him to go down for long enough to get Karama's flower.
Every so cautiously, the leopard made his way to the smaller branch, his ears pressed against his head, tail flicking nervously with each step. He slunk toward the trunk of the tree, cautiously making his way toward the ground. He paused just before his paws touched the floor, poised as if to spring off again.
Then taking a deep breath he charged, running toward the fallen flower. Lowering his head, green eye still focused on the pup, he delicately picked up the blossom in his jaws then darted for the tree once more.
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 7:50 pm
Zin watched, again in amazement, as the big leopard darted to the flower and picked it up gently with his jaws. His movement was so smooth it was as if he was really gliding over air; the little hyena wondered whether he would be able to move like that one day, and deciding that he would like to, made a note in the back of his mind to practice tree climbing, along with stalking, pouncing, and swimming.
Snapping out of his admiration for the leopard's fluid movements, the little hyena scrambled over to the base of the tree, just in time to stop the stranger from disappearing up into the thick foliages once more. He had be watching the stranger very carefully, watching, calculating, and waiting for the right moment to move. Too soon, and he might have scared him, too late, and he would have gotten away again: but Zin's timing was perfect this time, if he do say so himself. Just as the leopard was about to take off into the tree, Zin had slipped in from one side, between his target and the hiding place.
The hyena grinned trumphantly as he leaned forward, nose almost meeting the leopard's nose. "Waaaaait!" He command, "You wait just a minute there, mister!"
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 8:19 pm
Keone nearly yelped, skidding to a stop mere inches from coliding with the hyena pup. So it had been a trap? Keone wasn't waiting around to find out, and with his green eyes still fixed on the dark pup, he lept backward, placing himself out of range of any sharp teeth or claws. He stood with his tail flicking furiously, one paw off the ground, his ears swivling, searching for sounds of any others nearby.
"Wha...what do you want?"
What was this black creature that looked like neither cat nor dog with it's fluffy mane and tail. Why was it chasing him and what did it want? If it wasn't going to eat him why was it still here?
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Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 7:25 am
Zin watched as as the leopard flinched away from him and smiled. It wasn't a malevolent smile, no, it was more of a innocent, surprised smile; a smile one would have if one had suddenly discovered one's impressive hidden ability. So rare was someone actually afraid of the little hyena pup (usually creatures just patted him on the head or kicked him around) that he didn't know what to do with this new found authority. Zin inched over to the leopard and sniffed him.
"I don't want anything," Zin was now circling around the big cat, cautiously testing its tail with one paw, "I... just ran into you when I was wandering around back there." He made a dismissive gesture with one paw and continued his inspection, "Haven't you ever done that? Ya know, just wandered around until you hit something worth stopping for...?" Zin gazed at the creature, wondering when it was going to realize that he was just a harmless little pup and put him in his place. Well, better enjoy it while I can, he thought; he was really starting to enjoy this new found authority. "What's your name anyways?" He tilted his head to one side, "and what are you doing with that flower?"
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